Fox hunters were first Country Club members

Harper's Weekly featured the Richmond County Hunt Club and its elegant ball in 1889.

The first clubhouse was a two-story Victorian house on Little Clove Road. At the time of incorporation, the club had more than 60 members, each owning at least one horse, and some owning more than five.

On the club’s opening day, “Guests began to arrive early in the afternoon, and from that time until dark, handsome equipages, filled with Staten Island society people, were constantly entering and leaving the grounds,” said a newspaper article of June 11, 1892.

“On the lawn was a tent where they served ices and light collation. An orchestra furnished music for dancing in the clubhouse ... 500 were received during the afternoon.”

The Hunt Club’s subsequent functions were also elaborate and expensive. “Probably the most brilliant society event ever given on Staten Island” was the third-annual ball of the Richmond County Hunt Club at the Hotel Castleton.

By this time, golf had been introduced in this country and was growing in popularity, so a rudimentary golf course was built at the Little Clove Road clubhouse. The club prospered and soon outgrew its Victorian clubhouse.

In 1897, George Cromwell, who would soon become Staten Island’s first borough president, was involved in the purchase of the Alexander estate on Todt Hill for the club. The estate, also known as Effingham, was 36 acres of rolling lawns with spectacular views from each side of the house.

One report said Cromwell owned the land and either leased or sold it to the club; others said he arranged for the club to purchase the land. Either way, it became the Richmond County Country Club’s property that year.

The estate’s mansion had been built shortly before the Civil War by a woman named Agatha Mayer.

Cromwell, who owned a great deal of property on the hill, also turned over a tract of land to the north of Four Corners Road on which the club built a nine-hole golf course. A few years later, the back nine holes were added on land rented from Cromwell some distance from the first nine. The back nine was referred to as the Meadow Holes.

In 1908, the first nine holes were abandoned and sold as sites for homes and the club bought more land to complete the current 18-hole golf course on Todt Hill Road.

At the estate, the house was embraced by stone retaining walls. On the other side, extensive lawns rolled from the house. These great lawns were eventually turned into tennis courts for the club.

In addition, the house had stables, carriage sheds and other support buildings. The stables housed members’ horses as well as the club’s horses, which were rented for riding, used in the upkeep of the grounds, and used to pull the club’s carriage-taxi to the railroad and the ferry.

Visiting riders stayed at the club house or at The Romer, an enormous Victorian summer house nearby, or at the Belleview, a Grymes Hill house. The Richmond County Hunt Club continued to be closely affiliated with the Richmond County Country Club, “and one seemed a part of the other,” says a booklet published by the Richmond County Country Club on its 50th anniversary.

“All the activities of the Hunt were brought to the Country Club and its members joined in many hunt balls, breakfasts, teas, banquets, farmers’ balls, etc.”

Hunting remained popular until 1915, when roads and real estate developments “made it impossible to show the high class the sport previously enjoyed,” the pamphlet said.

The club’s English fox hounds were given to the Monmouth County Hunt. Some members made a last-ditch effort to continue hunting, but were unsuccessful because of the Island’s development.

HUNT’S DAY OVER

The hunt’s days on Staten Island were over. The Richmond County Hunt was probably the last organization of its kind in the city.

In 1932, the Advance reported the club’s membership at 350. Golf and tennis were the popular sports. By then, only six horses were owned and kept at the stables, the article said.

More than 500 members and former members and their guests attended a two-day celebration of the 50th anniversary of the club. The festivities were highlighted by a pageant which dramatized the club’s activities.